William h



(N0 ModL W. H. BECHTEL.

PORTABLE FIRE ESCAPE.

No. 322,778. I Patented July 21,1885.

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STATES ATENT OFFIC PORTABLE Fl RE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 322,778, dated July 21, 1885.

Application filed April 16, 1885. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. BEOHTEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Fire-Escapes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to a means for saving life at fires;.and it consists in a novel construction and arrangemement of the parts, whereby an apparatus is produced which can be rolled or folded in a small space for transportation, and readily unfolded or unrolled for the purpose of allowing it to be held by persons on the ground for the reception of persons jumping from the windows of a burning building.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a top View showing the invention made of canvas provided with eyelets. Fig. 2 is a view of one of the grooved side bars forming handles.

canvas or in the form of a mattress of suitable material, double, single, stuffed, quilted, or not, as may be found best by experience. When constructed of canvas, as shown in Fig. 1, its sides are provided with eyelets 6, through which ropes, cords, or wire a are passed to connect it to two side bars, B B, forming handles. These side bars, B B, are made of wood, iron, or other suitable material, cylindrical in form, and of such size as to enable them to be readily grasped by the hands of persons standing on the ground. On the periphery of each bar is a series of grooves, b,

for receiving the loops of the ropes, cords, or 7 rolled or folded so as to be carried by a per- I son, or by a fire-engine, hose-carriage, or other vehicle, and may be readily unrolled or unfolded so as to be held by persons on the ground for the reception of persons jumping from a window. The apparatus may also be inclosed in a casing or closet, C, as shown in-Fig. 6, located near a fire-alarm box, so that a person sending an alarm from a box would also be enabled to remove the apparatus from the closet and carry it to the scene of the fire.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. As an improved article of manufacture, a life-saving apparatus consisting of a body, A, connected by cords, ropes, or wires (1 to side bars, B B, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

2. The combination of the body A, provided with eyelets e, the cords, ropes, or wires a, and the side bars, B B, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

3. The combination of the body A, the ropes or cords a passing under said body, and the side bars, B, provided with peripherical grooves b, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WVILLIAM H. BEOHTEL.

Witnesses:

FRANCIS O. BOWEN, J. W. LOVERIDGE. 

